Mumbai: Indian Equity Indices Open Lower Amidst Muted Global Cues
Mumbai: Indian equity indices commenced trading on Thursday in negative territory, influenced by subdued global trends.
As of 9:50 a.m., the Sensex stood at 74,188, a decline of 314 points or 0.42%, while the Nifty was at 22,605, down 99 points or 0.41%.
The banking sector outperformed the benchmarks, with the Nifty Bank index rising by 255 points or 0.53%, to reach 48,751.
Among other indices, PSU Bank, Financial Services, and Media emerged as major gainers. In contrast, the Auto, IT, Pharma, Metal, Energy, and Infrastructure sectors were the significant losers.
The Indian volatility index (India VIX) increased by 0.50%, reaching 24.30 points.
Out of the 30 Sensex stocks, 23 were trading in negative territory.
Tata Steel, JSW Steel, Power Grid, Nestle, Titan, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Finance, and Wipro were among the top losers, while Axis Bank, SBI, ICICI Bank, and Kotak Mahindra Bank were the leading gainers.
Most Asian markets were trading lower, following the trend of American markets which closed in the red on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average had dropped by more than one per cent. The dollar index remained steady at 105.
Crude oil prices remained flat, with Brent crude trading at $79 per barrel and WTI crude at $83 per barrel.
Vaishali Parekh, Vice President – Technical Research at Prabhudas Lilladher Pvt Ltd, commented, “Nifty ended on the losing side once again for the last three consecutive sessions, closing near the 22,700 zone with a weakening bias. The next crucial support level is around 22,500, which needs to be sustained.”
She further added, “For an improvement in bias, a decisive breach above the 22,800 level is essential to continue the upward movement, potentially retesting the previous peak zone of 23,100 levels.”
